The field of the invention relates generally to railroad tracks and, more specifically, railroad track alignment tools for aligning rail segments for a railroad track.
Railroad tracks typically include a pair of longitudinal rails and a plurality of railroad ties extending perpendicular to the rails. The rails are fastened to the railroad ties using spikes or other fasteners and are configured to facilitate movement of a train along the railroad tracks. The rails are formed from a plurality of rail segments to provide enhanced control of the direction of the rails during installation. These rail segments are positioned in a face-to-face configuration and secured together. For example, the rail segments may be welded to each other.
In at least some known cases, the rail segments are heavy and difficult to align. In one example, workers installing the railroad tracks manually adjust the rails. These workers not only have to coordinate their adjustments, but also maintain these adjustments during installation (i.e., prevent slipping of the rail segments). In some known systems, alignment tools may be employed to align the rail segments. However, these alignment tools typical require the rail segments, spikes, and railroad ties to be separated during installation to facilitate moving the rail segments. For example, at least some known alignment tools require removing the tie plate from the railroad tie to use the alignment tools to align the rail segment. In addition, some alignment tools do not anchor the rail segments to the railroad ties during installation, which may lead to shifting of the rail segments and/or the railroad ties.